Still recovering from the sting of being denied the league title for the first time in six years, 5-seed Jesuit of Beaverton overcame a flat start to take down visiting 28-seed Barlow of Gresham 64-47 in the first round of the OSAA 6A boys basketball playoffs Wednesday.

“I think we’ve really had a chip on our shoulder, especially in practice," Jesuit senior guard Daniel Nelson said of the team's mindset since last week's loss.

While the end of an era, along with an eight-game win streak, renewed their intensity in practice, that same vigor did not carry over into the first quarter against Barlow.

Jesuit (16-8) started the game 1-for-7 from the field, leaving their offense right where it left off in the Sunset loss.

That was before the Crusaders got a boost off the bench from senior reserve guard Jack Bell, who connected on three first half 3-pointers and expanded the team's lead to as many as 13 points in the second quarter.

“Every game the team needs different things but tonight we were having trouble scoring,” said Bell, who finished with 9 points. “I was able to make some shots and that seemed to get us going.”

Barlow (10-14) stayed alive thanks a number of Jesuit defensive lapses to close the half, ending the second quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 29-23 deficit into the locker room.

The Bruins then once again refused to go quietly in the second half with some bull’s-eye shooting from senior guard Wesley Becker, who made five 3-pointers and cut the score to 44-39 late in the third quarter.

“After hitting my first two free throws, just seeing the ball go in the basket really got me feeling confident,” said Becker, who led Barlow with 17 points.

As the fourth quarter wore on, the Crusaders’ offensive patience outlasted Barlow’s switch to a trapping defense. The team's ball movement, which had gotten the ball to open shooters early in the third quarter and taken the Bruins out of a 2-3 zone, adjusted to the new, aggressive style and brought points from the paint, the free throw line and beyond the arc.

With just over two minutes to play, 6-7 senior Jack Nadelhoffer connected on 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put Jesuit up 62-47 and seal the win.

Jesuit had three players in double figures. The Crusaders were led by Nadelhoffer’s 13 points, followed by 10 apiece from Nelson and Henry Mondeaux.

A first round win could not make up for the loss of the Metro League title streak to end the regular season. But the victory did provide a clean slate for the month of March and serve as a reminder that there is an entire second season to play.

“I would say it’s definitely not something we forgot about because it hurt a lot. We wanted that game (against Sunset) really bad," Bell said. "We’ve used it as motivation, but at the same time we’ve also had to flush it and move on because that game wasn’t the end of our season.”

Jesuit will host 21-seed Reynolds of Troutdale, which beat Grants Pass 49-34, Saturday in the second round.